Apr 3, 2008 9:04 pm US/Pacific
Reiser Murder Trial Inches Toward Finish Line
The marathon trial of computer engineer Hans Reiser on charges that he murdered his estranged wife Nina inched toward the finish line Thursday with the police officer who led the search for Nina testifying that Hans was uncooperative.
Alameda County Superior Court Judge Larry Goodman, who is presiding over Reiser's trial, which began on Nov. 6, told jurors at the end of the day Thursday he hopes testimony will conclude on Monday, when the trial resumes.
If that's the case, closing arguments, which are expected to last many days, will begin on Tuesday.
Former Oakland missing persons investigator Ryan Gill, who's now a San Leandro patrol officer, said Thursday that he made seven phone calls to Reiser, 44, his attorneys and his mother between Sept. 7 and 22, 2006, concerning the disappearance of Nina Reiser on Sept. 3, 2006, but Reiser never called him back.
Nina Reiser, who was 31 at the time, was last seen alive when she dropped off the couple's children on Sept. 3, 2006, at the house in the Oakland hills where Hans Reiser lived with his mother.
Gill said Reiser "was uncooperative" because "he wasn't cooperating with my missing person investigation and was not responding to my calls and was not providing information."
Gill said that he eventually sent a letter by registered mail to Reiser's criminal defense lawyer, William DuBois, on Sept. 27, 2006, asking to set up a meeting with Reiser.
But Gill said Reiser never met with police.
Nina and Hans met in Russia, where she was born and trained as a physician, and where he often spent time doing business for his computer file system company.
They married in 1999, but she filed for divorce and separated from him in 2004. Nina was awarded legal custody of their children, but Hans had visitation rights. Their divorce case, which Hans Reiser has admitted was acrimonious, was still pending when she disappeared.
Even though Nina's body has never been found, in October of 2006 Hans Reiser was charged with murdering her because prosecutors believe that DNA and blood evidence proves that he killed her.
He has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.
DuBois has said that he thinks Nina may still be alive and be in hiding somewhere, possibly in Russia.
Gill was actually called to the witness stand by DuBois to testify as a defense witness for Reiser.
DuBois apparently wanted to focus on his belief that Oakland police homed in on Reiser as their prime suspect shortly after Nina disappeared and failed to investigate the possibility that she could have been killed by two men whom she had dated or by several men to whom she had sent e-mails after seeing their personal information posted on Craigslist. Nina sent those emails the day before she disappeared.
But calling Gill to the witness stand appeared to backfire on DuBois because much of the officer's testimony centered on his opinion that Reiser was uncooperative.
When Reiser's trial resumes on Monday, he's expected to return to the witness stand at some point for his tenth day of testimony. Also expected to testify are Beverly Palmer, his mother, who has already testified twice, and a private investigator for the defense who has testified once before.
Reiser Murder Trial: Coverage Archive
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